Crack crack crack… Ear-piercing cracking noises rang out as the heavenbound door slowly opened. Inexhaustible light quickly dyed the entire sky white. At the same time, all the talismans in the door’s surroundings lit up!

In the past several days, countless flying magik artifacts and cultivators had floated before the endless heavenbound door. From far away, they appeared to be a colony of insects on a green leaf.

Swoosh! A formless ripple of wind blew forth, and a pure-white world slowly unfolded. In the beginning, it was an expanse of silence. After an unknown passage of time, following a white light that transformed from a thread into a ray, there was finally a person weaving seals in the silence. A swallow-shaped magik artifact soared and issued a hum, transforming into a streak of jade radiance as it rocketed.

In the next second, a green firework exploded in the air. Even after a long time, it didn’t disperse and formed the enormous character of “Zhou” (周).

“The White Horse Zhou Clan…” On a centipede-shaped magik artifact over twenter meters long, the hair and beard of an old man billowed all over, and his clothing rustled. However, he didn’t fall back by half a step and even slowly opened his eyes.

No one could see, but his hand inside his changpao was tightly gripping a jade slip. His fingertips were somewhat white.

It hadn’t shattered… the young master’s jade slip still hadn’t shattered! Not only this… but among the twenty people who had entered, not a single one of their jade slips had shattered yet!

“Second Steward…” On the centipede, there were three other equally old men sitting down. One of them was a thin old man who was so excited that his face was flushed. He gritted his teeth and said: “Our Ye Clan is one of the three top clans… if fourth young master’s party of twenty-one people all come out, we…”

The second steward took a deep breath. His eyes were already brimming with spirited light. He forcibly suppressed his speeding pulse and said lowly: “Make the signal.”

“In the very first moments we get the fourth young master out of the secret realm, we’ll see where out clan stands…” He finished speaking, his vision fixed on the scene like a hawk: “We’ll also have to take note of a few shady disciples… especially the Five Great Demon Clans.”

“Yes!”

Swoosh! The second ray of brilliance answered. In the same vein, it was jade, but this ray was evidently much more dazzling than the Zhou Clan’s first ray. Countless motes of spiritual light trailed behind the ray’s tail as it whizzed. Along its path, it left a scratch in the air like a writing brush. In the blink of an eye, a jade bamboo was floating in the sky.

“This is the Ye Clan.” On the other side, a hawk-nosed middle-aged man with slit pupils sneered and turned his head back: “Make the signal… welcome the sixth young master’s return to our Nangong Clan!”

“This time… not a single jade slip of sixth young master’s squadron broke during this exploration of Danxia Temple’s secret realm. Truly an unexpected delight. We must welcome back sixth young master with the grandest scene!

“Yes!” “Understood!”

Following this reply, four golden light pillars charged out from the Nangong Clan’s encampment with the momentum of a thunderbolt evading ear cover! Under the blood-colored peng in the sky, they constructed a majestic golden peng! [1]

In an instant, the land sparkled with treasure light and a thousand streaks of prismatic qi. In the sky, all kinds of clans emblems sketched out incredibly glorious images. In front of the door, they seemed to be in chaos. Following the emergence of these clan emblems, they neatly took root in each and every encampment.

Below, the clamors of several thousand people roared. The region several thousand meters above also seemed to be infected by this roiling heat.

Thousands of meters high in the air, cold wind whistled. Hidden in clouds and mist, a mountainous figure was faintly visible in the clouds.

Daomaster Ancientpine sat cross-legged in the air. Not a single person below dared to act out of turn. This was because… the total might of Core Formation pressure was already spilling out as if it had solidified. Even if there were only threads and strands, this might was still enough to make the area below appear to be calm and in order.

“Naive…” After an unknown amount of time passed, Ancientpine seemed to speak to himself: “Everything from the outside world is isolated… Nothing comes out from the inside… The connection between life slips and cultivators was cut off long ago. Do you truly believe…” He slowly opened his eyes, bearing a smirk as he looked down below: “that an eternal deadland… will allow so many people to come out?”

“Even a showing of a hundred people can’t be thought of as poor…”

Rustle rustle rustle… Amidst a nearly solidified state of passion, the door gradually opened. Countless eyes stared fixedly at the door. As the door kept on opening, the white light inside flourished more and more! The light was so dense that it couldn’t be transformed in essence!

Swoosh… Without omen, at this moment, silence triumphed over sound. As the great door opened up by a third, a halo of white qi swept over everyone!

On the centipede, the gaze of the Ye Clan’s second steward was like fire as he gazed at the door. In this fleeting instant, his expression froze. Resembling a stone carving, he sat on the centipede. This second seemed to freeze. Half a second later, he began to tremble from head to toe. His hand trembled as if he had suffered a stroke. He falteringly stretched his hand out from his sleeve and felt the life slip of the Ye Clan’s fourth young master in disbelief!

Where it touched his hand was ice-cold. Nonetheless, on this deathly silent icy-coldness, a shocking scar split the entire jade slip into two pieces!

Ye Old Four… had fallen!

This unforeseen event was too sudden. His face paled, and he uttered not a single word. He instinctively raised his head like a machine and look towards his other companions. And yet, as far as he could see, everyone was looking at him with a kind of even more aggrieved expression.

His lips trembled. In an instant, great joy had become great sorrow. He said shakily: “How many… survived?”

Several seconds later, not a single person answered!

“Not…” His face became white as paper: “a single person?!”

It was still silent, a deathly silence!

The second steward appeared as if he wanted to stand up, yet tumbled over several times. He simply didn’t have the strength to prop himself up and stand.

The Ye Clan… All of them had been wiped out! But… how could this be?! How was this possible?! When the door closed, had the secret realm actually isolated all probing? Ridiculously, he had still believed… that not a single person from the Ye Clan had died!

At the same moment of utter extermination, not only had he not quietly departed, he had instead cast the clan’s emblem with great fanfare. Now… whether or not he disposed of it, it was already a massive joke!

No… It wasn’t like this… His gaze reddened in an instant and looked towards the great door. Those of the Ye Clan had all died… but the door had opened… In that case who was coming out from within? How had the Ye Clan been wiped out?! Did these people know?!

No… even if they didn’t know, an answer still needed to be acquired from their mouths no matter the amount of times it took!

Bang! At the same time, in the Nangong Clan, the hawk-nosed middle-aged man suddenly bolted up on his feet. He looked at the jade slip before him in astonishment!

The Nangong Clan was dead silent! Moments ago, the middle-aged man had took out Nangong Xiaoran’s jade slip, yet it suddenly broke apart into pieces in the air! If the slip broke apart into two parts… it meant that the corpse still existed. If it shattered into pieces… then the person in question had been rendered into scattered ash and smoke!

“Who… Who is it!!!” The man was dazed for a full five seconds. He gnashed his teeth and said: “Who… Who actually dares to break ground ahead of the Nangong Clan!!!”

Were it not for the other cultivators, how could he possibly leave any of those dregs behind?! The life slip’s broken state was evidently due to someone’s actions against the Nangong Clan!

The sixth young master… The sixth young master who had awakened an elysial divine ability! He had actually fallen in Danxia Temple’s secret realm! Although such preparations had been long since made for those who chose to enter… confronted with the truth before their eyes, it was still hard to accept!

The amount of resources that a genius occupied up… was enough to rear a hundred ordinary talents!

“Was it from among the Five Great Demon Clans, or…” His gaze cut through the other present lineages like a blade: “the other human lineages of equal standing?”

“F-Fifth Elder…” At this time, an old man said tremblingly: “You… You must brace yourself…”

“Speak.” The fifth elder gritted his teeth and said. There was something capable of being even worst? Nangong Xiaoran’s talents were astonishing. Although his battle experience couldn’t be considered great, it was by no means meager! Even if Nangong Xiaoran had fallen, this was already the most disastrous outcome!

“Fifth Elder…” The old man clenched his teeth and sighed deeply: “besides the sixth young master… the other… the other jade slips… have all… alll…”

Swish! In a flash, the fifth elder had already drawn close to the old man, his voice somewhat light: “You don’t mean to tell me… none of them… made it?”

The old man lowered his head. After ages, he gritted his teeth and replied: “Yes…”

The fifth elder’s vision went black!

From the Nangong Clan… so many people had entered! There were also the two half-step Foundation Establishment retainers, Qiao Wu and Quan Liu! Ultimately, all of them been utterly defeated!

It was a mystery as to how many jade slips had exploded from each clan! The group of thousands that were still eagerly waiting moments ago were now collectively silent.

The casualties had been too great… Of those dispatched, who wasn’t a leading figure in their clan or power? At this moment, they absolutely hadn’t expected that there would be almost none who survived!

“Heavens…” A middle-aged cultivator’s face was black like the bottom of a pot. He firmly gazed at the heavenbound door. Their clansmen had all been completely annihilated. Even the seeds that they looked favorably upon hadn’t exited!

“Could this be… the entrance of hell…?”

It was dead silent. Grave heaviness swiftly pervaded the grounds in the wake of the shattered jade slips. Nonetheless, everyone’s gazes then became even more burning!

Someone was coming out… Everyone could sense that someone was coming out! The number of people were few… but they wanted to see who it was! Who was able to leave Danxia Temple with their lives?!

“This Throne wants to see…” The Nangong Clan’s fifth elder grinded his teeth and said: “Xiaoran has died… Who were the last to survive…?”

“This truly is a place to rear Gu…” Her face ashen, an old woman brushed aside the support of her young maid: “Could it be that the last to come out is the Gu king?” [2]

“The entire Mo Clan was wiped out, yet there are still those capable of leaving. Is it the Ye Clan? The Yi Clan?” A masked man restrained his aching heart and locked his eyes on the great door: “This Throne does not believe… that the geniuses of the Mo Clan are inferior to others by the slightest fraction!”

In the sky, Daomaster Ancientpine slightly opened his eyes. Under the endless crowd’s focused gazes, the great door became larger and larger. Finally, after a white light glimmered, the entire heavenbound door actually began to transform into a spiritual light eruption that filled the sky!

“This is…” The light of Daomaster Ancientpine’s eyes flashed, and he abruptly stood up: “a return to the Earth… Qi circulation? As expected… this was an artificial secret realm!”

After the collapse of all cultivator’s divine abilities, these skills would transform into qi and return to the Earth. However… a cultivator’s divine abilities were merely traces, yet this heavenbound door’s return... caused Longsu Province to immediately become a heavenly paradise!

Swoosh!!! Rays of spiritual light rose up in the air. The skies had turned pale in color. This return to the world was first sign of a secret realm’s disappearance!

RUMBLE! Spiritual light pierced through the denseness of the clouds. From the ground, a boundless light tail dragged onwards to the sky. Nonetheless, in this twinkling, nine silhouettes finally emerged in everyone’s sights in the wake of this collapse of spiritual light!

1. The “Peng” in Kun Peng. I thought about translating this as roc or garuda, but decided against it, since we have an actual character who is a Kun Peng.

2. Reminder. Gu is sometimes considered a super poisonous insect. Other times, it is considered the last surviving poisonous creature in a battle between multiple poisonous creature. This last creature standing is thought to possess extremely potent venom.